Rangers 5, Athletics 2
ARLINGTON, Texas, Jul 13 — The Texas Rangers were able to win their series with the Oakland Athletics with a victory on Wednesday night by a final score of 5–2. The Rangers played small ball on this night at Globe Life Field. RBI singles by Corey Seager, Leody Taveras, and Brad Miller all helped the Rangers secure the win as well as the series. This provides a good bit of momentum as the Rangers will play host to the Seattle Mariners for four games starting on Thursday night. In the opener, lefty Marco Gonzalez (5–9, 3.24 ERA) will start for the Mariners. Texas will send their own left-hander to the mound in the person of Martin Perez (7–2, 2.72 ERA).
Rangers’ Big Inning Seals Series Win
The Rangers managed to score all five of their runs in the top of the first inning on Wednesday. It all started with a with an RBI single to right field by Corey Seager. This was enough to allow shortstop Marcus Semien to cross the plate to give the Rangers their first run of the night. The score would soon become 3–0 Rangers, thanks to the bat of center-fielder Leody Taveras. Taveras singled to centerfield to drive in Seager and Nathaniel Lowe. It also allowed catcher Jonah Heim, who was also on base at the time, to advance to third base. Moments later, outfielder Brad Miller singled to right field. Both Heim and Taveras were able to score easily on the play.
Athletics’ Offense
For the first eight innings, it looked as if the Rangers would end the series with a shutout. The Athletics, however, had other ideas. In his first ninth inning situation since coming off the 60-day Injured List, right-hander Jose Leclerc came in to pitch. On the very first pitch that he threw, he gave up a solo home run to Athletics center fielder Skye Bolt. It was Bolt’s first home run of the season. Leclerc barely had time to catch his breath when Ramon Laureano stepped up to the plate. Laureano immediately brought the Athletics to within two runs of the Rangers in the series finale with another solo home run. It looked like Oakland would come back, but that’s where their offense ended for the evening.
Rangers Series Finale Pitching Notes
Right-hander Jon Gray got the start for the Rangers in the series finale on Wednesday. Gray pitched seven innings of shutout baseball. He only allowed one hit over those seven innings in a very good performance on the mound. Gray also had nine strikeouts, and he didn’t allow a single walk. In fact, Gray posted the second start in Rangers history of at least seven shutout innings pitched with one-or-zero hits allowed, no walks, and nine strikeouts. It was the first time that happened since Yu Darvish did it on April, 2, 2013 against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park (8 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 SO). Jon Gray retired 21 of the 22 batters he faced. The only instance in which he allowed a baserunner was on an infield single by Vimael Machin to lead off the fourth inning.
Gray went home with the winning decision for the Rangers. His record for 2022 now sits at 6–4, with an ERA of 3.71. Paul Blackburn got the losing decision for the A’s. His record for 2022 now sits at 6–5, with an ERA of 3.62. Garrett Richards recorded the save for the Rangers. It ‘s his first save of the year.
Main Photo:
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Players Mentioned:
Corey Seager, Leody Taveras, Brad Miller, Marco Gonzalez, Martin Perez, Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe, Jonah Heim, Jose Leclerc, Skye Bolt, Ramon Laureano, Jon Gray, Yu Darvish, Vimael Machin, Garrett Richards, Paul Blackburn
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